(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

All right, we're here in Romans chapter 2, and we're continuing up going through the book of Romans. We're just kind of going verse by verse, and we spent two weeks on chapter 1, and a lot of the chapters, because Romans is packed, there's a lot of information, so we're going to be in Romans for a really long time, but the book of Romans teaches on a lot of stuff, not just salvation, okay? So we're going to be teaching on everything, and I timed this perfectly because my good friend in the US, Pastor Aaron Thompson, he's going through the book of Romans right now, but he's a couple weeks ahead of me. So I get to kind of just listen to the sermons and just write down notes, oh, just re-preach that, sounds good. So I'm half joking there, okay? But many of you know him, he was here for the mission trip, he's a great man of God. But anyways, we're in Romans chapter 2, and the name of the sermon is The Judgment of the Unsaved. The Judgment of the Unsaved. Now go back to verse 32 in chapter 1, I want to show you the transition that takes place in the book of Romans. Let me say this, I've really been excited about this Bible Memorization Challenge because I believe the hardest thing to stay consistent on in the Christian life is really memorizing the Bible. And having this challenge, we've been able to help motivate one another. And I plan to just continually for the rest of this church just have a memorization challenge. It's a difficult one if you're doing the Challenge B, a chapter, pretty much per week, but we're all learning a lot from the Bible, so it's good to preach on this. But in verse 32 it says, who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. What we talked about last week is that verse is referring to the people that were just mentioned in chapter 1, which are the LGBT, the homosexuals. And what it says about them is that not only do they do these things, but they take pleasure when other people do these things, okay? People that are wicked evil people, they want other people to do the same things. But there's a transition when you go to verse number 1 in chapter 2. It's a different group of people. And this is where memorizing the Bible is so key because you've got to pay attention to every word, and sometimes there's the deep things of God. He says, therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judges. What he's talking about in verse 1 are basically general unsaved people. Because general unsaved people would look at them and say, they're really bad people, I'm better than them, they deserve hell, but I deserve to go to heaven. That's what the average religious person here in the Philippines would say. I'm better than them, I'm not doing those things. But look, the Bible says that when you're judging, you're actually inexcusable because though you don't necessarily do all of those things, and you're not necessarily filled with all those things, but you still do some of those things. You might not be filled with envy, but you're still envious from time to time. You might not be filled with covetousness, but you're still covetous from time to time. Go back to verse 20 of chapter 1, Romans 1 verse 20. Inexcusable means without excuse, Romans 1 verse 20. It says, for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power in Godhead, so that they are without excuse. What the Bible teaches in his righteous judgment is nobody has an excuse for not getting saved. Nobody can say after they die, I just didn't know it's not fair to me. God says they are without excuse. Why? Because God has revealed himself to them. On the inside in their conscience, he gave everybody a conscience, and he gave various things that we can look at, the creation of God. And people know there's a God, okay? Now that doesn't make them automatically saved, but we see with Cornelius in the Bible that when somebody fears God, and that could be somebody in North Korea or Afghanistan or Iraq or whatever country that God can and will send a soul winner to preach the gospel. And let me tell you something, there are saved people in every country in the world. Just because in North Korea it's obviously a wicked country and obviously Christianity doesn't really have free bounds to just be everywhere, I promise you there are saved people in North Korea. Don't tell me that a country of like, I don't know, what is it, 50 million people or 30 million or whatever it is, don't tell me nobody's saved in North Korea. I don't believe that, okay? There are saved people in every country of the world, and the Bible speaks about that. We preached on that, that there are saved people everywhere. And look, even in countries like that, there are people that fear God though. There are people that are just good-hearted people, but they might not be saved. But look, if somebody does not get saved, no matter where they're from, they're without excuse. That's what the Bible teaches. Go back to Romans 2. Romans 2. There's a cute little doctrine out there that if people don't hear the gospel, they get a free pass into heaven. Well, if that's the case, then you know what we should start doing as a new ministry of our church? Never going soul winning. Right? I mean, if people get a free pass into heaven if they don't know who Jesus is, let's just quit talking about Jesus. We're going to shut down church. We'll convince all the other churches to never talk about Jesus. Then everybody goes to heaven, but they don't get a free pass. They're without excuse. We must preach the gospel and get him saved. Verse 1, Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art thou judges. So anybody who would be judging them and saying, I deserve to go to heaven, because look, you're unsaved people, they're very judgmental. They judge themselves worthy of going to heaven, but not other people. Isn't that true? They believe that, you know what, we deserve to go to heaven because I'm not a really bad person. So anybody like that, that says, I deserve to go to heaven, and you're judging others that are too bad, but you're good enough, what does he say? For wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself. For thou that judgest doest the same things. And so you could look at a really evil person and say, man, they're just really evil. They're envious. They're covetous. They're prideful. I mean, we talked in Romans 1 about the homosexuals, I mean, gay pride. They're prideful. Yeah, but you know what? All of us are prideful from time to time. So if you're not saved, if you don't believe on Jesus, and you look down on them for being prideful, you know what? You're basically shooting yourself in the face, because we're all prideful from time to time. Okay? And look, I understand, we talked last week about Romans 1. I'm not trying to re-preach that. That's already been preached. We're talking about Romans 2 right now, and we're talking about the average unsaved person. And you know what? They're without excuse, because they condemn other people for being too bad, because they think they're good enough to go to heaven. They're not good enough. And if you're honest with yourself before you got saved, that's what you thought about yourself. You thought you were good enough to go to heaven before you got saved. I was 85, 90% sure I was going to heaven. Now I was scared, because of that other 10 to 15%, but I was like, man, I don't drink. I mean, I was homeschooled. My parents were strict. I didn't drink. I didn't party. I thought, you know, I'm nice. You know, I help my neighbor who's elderly, I help her shovel her snow. I help her, you know, with things around the house, you know, I'm nice. I thought, I'll probably go. I mean, I'm not doing drugs like other people are. That's how everybody thinks before they're saved. No matter how good or bad you are, you always think you're good enough. Okay? And see, when you set the bar on salvation, you always set it just low enough so you can crawl over, okay? Whether you're really good or whether you're really bad, you're going to put it really down low. They talk to people in prison all the time, and they ask them questions like this, and people in prison will say they're a good person, I've never killed anybody. That's the standard on if you're good, but they will always set the bar low enough so they're good enough to crawl over, okay? And the first step to salvation is simply being able to humble yourself. And look, some people we talk to, they don't even talk to us because they're fine. They really think they got it all put together. They are so arrogant that basically they won't even listen. And look, every single person before they're saved, there's some arrogance there because you had to humble yourself to listen. Everybody who gets saved, you at least had enough humility to listen to the gospel. And I'll tell you what, I argued with the guy who led me to the Lord for like an hour. He was a friend of mine from college that I had met a few months before. We argued and argued for more than an hour. I was prideful, but eventually I just could not argue with the Word of God. It's like, you know what, it makes sense. It's a gift. I mean, it's that simple. But you know, unsaved people, they don't understand this. And I'll tell you what, I was someone who heard the gospel for over an hour, and then I ended up getting saved later that night. You know, when I walked home, I thought about it. I told my friend the next day, I was like, hey, I got saved last night. And he didn't believe me. He was like, you were arguing with me for an hour and a half. You said I was wrong. I didn't know it. I was like, I got saved. And he told me weeks later, he's like, yeah, I was waiting. I was making sure, because he's like, you know, he'd been arguing with me. He's like, yeah, I mean, you know, you do believe it. I was like, yeah, I told you. I was like, you convinced me, okay? But that's kind of encouraging to us when we're soul owners, that we preach the gospel to some people, and you're like, oh, I didn't get anybody saved today. They rejected it. I preached the gospel to three people yesterday. Three times I gave the gospel, and as far as I know, nobody got saved. But did you realize sometimes we preach the gospel, and those people end up getting saved? They think about it, and then they do believe it. And I didn't even hear the gospel again. It was enough. The word was sown in my heart. I thought about it. And sometimes people just need a little bit of time to meditate on it. It's not like they expect you to knock on their door. They're not ready for this conversation about their eternity, okay? So sometimes they hear it, but they're not ready for it, but they might end up getting saved, or you planted a seed and will knock that door again three months from now or four months from now, and they listen again, and then they do get it, okay? Unsaved people before they're saved, though, they don't understand this. Everybody judges themselves to be good enough to go to heaven. That's the truth. Everyone thinks they're good enough. Verse 2, but we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commits such things. When he says, we are sure, Paul wrote this book. He's saying, we that are saved are sure, okay, that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commits such things. So the unsaved person doesn't get it because he thinks he's good enough to go to heaven. He's comparing himself. Paul's saying, us that are saved, we understand that the judgment is according to truth, okay? So if you've broken these things one time, you're guilty. That's what he's saying there. Verse 3, and thinkest thou this, O man, that judges them which do such things, and this is the unsaved person that's judging other people for doing things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? And we wonder that when we're preaching the gospel to people. We talk to people, they think they're going to go to heaven, and it's like they're trusting in their works. And we say, well, have you ever told a lie? Well, yeah. Well, the Bible says all liars shall have their part. It's like, yeah, but I haven't lied as much as other people. It's like, I mean, have you ever had bad, the Bible says, a thought of foolishness is sin. Yeah, but I don't think badly as much as other people do. And it's like, that is literally the unsaved person. Is that not true? I mean, for many of you, that's in your head. Even if you didn't say that out loud, in the back of your head, that's what you were thinking before you got saved. That's what I was thinking before I got saved. I thought, you know what, yeah, I'm better than most people. That is what I thought. But here's the thing, every single person thinks they're better than most people. Because the standard of good and bad is different to different people. See, to some people, the standard of whether you're good is whether you're a nice person to everybody, no matter what. And it's like, they would look at me as being a really evil person. Why? Because of the things I preach. Even if I'm not ever drinking, well, it doesn't matter if you drink, as long as you're nice to everybody, right? And look, I believe we should be nice and be at peace with all men. But yeah, there's some people you gotta preach against that are bad people, according to the Bible. But they would look at what I believe, and a lot of people would say, well, he's a bad person, I'm better than, you know, Matthew. And it's like, but the way they're judging is different than how we would judge. But the ultimate thing is this, how does God judge you? God judges by if you break his rules or not, which everybody has, okay? And so if you've broken his rules, you need a savior. And there's people, they think they're good, and they think they're gonna escape the judgment of God because of how good they are. Look, in the US, I ran into many people that thought they were going to heaven cuz they took care of kittens, cuz they took care of animals. That's a common answer in the US. It's like, I take care of stray kittens. It's like, that's gonna get you into heaven? It's like, I take care of stray dogs. That's gonna get you into heaven? And it's like, people come up with all different answers for why they think they're gonna go to heaven, and they think they're good enough, okay? Notice what it says in verse four, or despises thou the riches of his goodness in forbearance and longsuffering. So despise means to hate with great hatred. And the Bible talks about the riches of the goodness of God, and talks about people that despise the goodness of God and forbearance and longsuffering, okay? What we're gonna see in chapter two is most specifically, he really looks at the Jews, okay? Obviously, we know that at the time of Jesus Christ, there's a transition. The people that believed in Judaism in the Old Testament that actually believed on the coming Messiah and Savior were saved. But when Jesus Christ came, many that would have claimed they believed that religion obviously didn't cuz they didn't believe on Jesus. The Bible says that if you would have believed, you would have believed on Jesus when he came. Every single person who was saved in the Old Testament, when Jesus came, they're like, he's a savior. They heard the words of the shepherd. But a lot of people that would have been part of that religion, so to speak, like, I'm Jewish, I follow Moses' law and things like that, they actually weren't saved. And so many of them, like the Pharisees when Jesus came, they rejected him. Why? They weren't saved before Jesus came. You can't lose your salvation. They just didn't believe. They were trusting in their works, okay? That's what the Bible teaches. In today's world, do you think just cuz somebody says they're a Baptist, they're saved? No. No. Right. I mean, Brother Prince was, we were talking yesterday, he knocked on someone's door of a Baptist church here in passing. And the guy thought that no saved person would ever commit suicide. He said it wasn't possible. What's done with the Bible teaches? I mean, he's obviously trusting in his works that I'm never gonna commit this. And we believe salvation's eternal life. And look, that's a spiritual promise. Look, you kill your body, that's the body. If I shoot myself in the head, I'm dead. But did you realize I can't pull out my soul here today? Like, here's my soul. And poof, I killed my soul. No, you can kill the body. You can't kill the soul, okay? And so here's the thing, when you have eternal life, it's eternal. And in the Bible, Samson and King Saul committed suicide and went to heaven. I believe Ahithophel was saved as well. There are six people in the Bible that committed suicide. I believe three went to heaven and three went to hell. Obviously, Judas Iscariot was not saved. I hope everybody agrees with that. But here's the thing, Judas never believed, right? The Bible said he was a devil at the end of John chapter six. Judas said he is a devil. He was a devil before he betrayed Jesus. He was stealing before. He was there for purposes of money. That's why he betrayed Jesus. He never believed it. And look, you can be in a church and hear the truth over and over and over again. That doesn't guarantee you're saved. What do you personally believe? That determines whether or not you're saved. And you will be at churches, and it will happen at our church, where people can be here for a long time. And then they'll leave and they'll say, I believe the Pope is God on Earth. And it's like, what? It's like you were here with us for years, and now you walk out and say that the Pope is the Vicar of Christ on Earth? It's like, have you been with us for such a long time, and yet you don't believe these things? And it's like, but that happens at church. People leave churches and either they're deceived into thinking they believe, or maybe they're confused, or maybe they're being phonies about it, and they leave. And they believe something completely different. Now somebody leaving our church does not mean they're unsaved. But when they change what they believe, because what is the evidence of salvation? Faith. And so if somebody leaves this place and says, you know what, I'm gonna join that street down the road, or that church down the road, right? The really nice building there, you guys know what I'm talking about? It's like, yeah, you know what, they obviously never believe this stuff. Okay, somebody says, you know what, I'm gonna become a Mormon. It's like, well, you obviously never believed that salvation's a gift, okay? And so look, according to the Bible about people that are unsaved, especially as the Jews, they rejected Jesus Christ, and they didn't even believe that salvation was available to the Gentiles. I mean, in the back of their head, it's like a lot of them seem to believe like, well, no Gentile ends up going to heaven. It's like, what are you talking about? Notice what it says, verse 4, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. Now repentance here is referring to a change of mind, changing what you believe. But it's like they are not aware that it's the goodness of God that leads you to change your mind, okay? It's God's grace that he gave you the opportunity to hear the gospel. For me, when I was in college, I had wanted to know for years how to go to heaven. I had thought about it for years, and I was scared about my eternity. And I remember going to a football game as a freshman in college, and I remember that some kid gives me an invitation from the Bible way to heaven, from Emmanuel Baptist Church in Morgantown, West Virginia. And I was around some friends, and they mocked it. So guess what I did? I crumbled it up and threw it in the trash, right? Why? Because I was too worried about what my friends thought. And it's like, you know what? I remember right after I did that, I was like, what am I doing? It's like, because I wanted to appease my friends. And it's like, I feel very fortunate that God gave me another chance. Because God gave me a chance right there, and I basically threw it away in the trash. I ended up going to that church, like a decade later. That was my church that I went to, I went soloing with that church. But when I was a kid, they gave me an invitation, but I was too embarrassed, and I threw it away. Look, it's the goodness of God that gave me another chance to believe on Jesus Christ, cuz I literally threw it away right there. But that did leave an impression on my mind, though, where I really just thought about it constantly. And then I did end up hearing the gospel. But here's what I want you to understand. However you got saved, it's the goodness of God that gave you that opportunity. And you have to realize, you look at how many people are unsaved. I don't know what the percentage is, and it's scary to think about, but I promise you it's over 95% of people are unsaved in this world. And look, you have to realize, we are a country that has more people saved, a higher percentage than almost every country in the world. It's like, what about some of these other countries? It could be over 99% of people are unsaved in this world. That's a pretty scary thought. Because look, only 30, what is it, 31.2% of this world, I think, claims to be Christian, 31.2%. Well, half of those are Roman Catholic. And it's just like, there's a lot of crazy cults out there. I mean, the Seventh Day Adventists are crazy, the Jehovah's Witnesses are crazy, the Mormons are crazy. I mean, you can go on and on all day. There's a religion called Christian science, okay? And Christian science is neither Christian nor is it scientific, okay? But basically what they teach is if you get shot in the head with a gun and you die, it's your fault, because it's all a mental thing. Pain is only mental. It's like, how is that Christianity? But they call themselves Christian science. There are a lot of bizarre Christian religions, right, in every country. And look, and there's a lot of bizarre cults and things like that. I don't know what the percentage of saved people is, but it's pretty low. And you say, Brother Stuckey, I don't know if that's true. Well, you know what, you don't go soul winning, right? I mean, if you think I'm wrong, you don't go soul winning. Cuz anyone who goes soul winning knows, man, it's scary when you go out there. It's sad. When you first go soul winning, honestly, your reaction is, you feel really sad. It's like, man, nobody knows they're going to heaven. Now, obviously, we know some people are saved, but I'm just saying, you don't run into that many saved people. I mean, it's scary, and here's the truth. I'll be honest, cuz I've been saved for, since I was 18, what am I, I'm 35, I can't remember, right, Malili Muti Nicole, okay? But it's like, I've been saved for 16 years. It's like, I've only had one time, one time in my life, where Baptists knocked on my door. And they did not knock to preach the gospel, they invited me, which is great. But I've only had one time where my door was knocked on. As I said before I was saved, somebody gave me an invitation. But in 16 years, one time a Baptist has knocked on my door. Say, why aren't people saved? Nobody's preaching the gospel. Now look around this community, they're like, man, those Baptists again? It's like the first time we went around this community, they're like, the Jehovah's Witnesses. Now they're like, the Baptists again? That's like the fourth time they've knocked on our door. It's like, yeah, just get saved, start coming to church, we'll quit bugging you. Right? But look, very few people are saved, and it's scary. Turn to Acts 11, Acts chapter 11 in your Bible. Acts chapter 11. Look, I mean, considering how few people are saved, we all ought to be thankful that we're saved and on our way to heaven. And I'll tell you what, nobody grows up saved because you've got to be born again. But man, I am glad I didn't grow up in a Muslim country. Right, I mean, I'm glad I didn't grow up in a Hindu country or a Buddhist country. Cuz your odds of getting saved are gonna be a lot lower because of how weird and bizarre and wrong those religions are. It's like, we ought to be thankful that, you know what, it was not too late for us. Because here's the thing, I got saved when I was 18. Isn't it true that the older you are, the less likely you are to get saved? Just think about if you didn't hear the gospel and it was five years down the road, you might not have gotten saved ever. Same with me. I'm thankful that when I was 18, before I screwed up my life, I heard the gospel and believed it, understood it, and got saved. Acts 11 verse 17, let me show you how foolish it is to say that, well, only Jews get saved. Acts 11 verse 17, for this is Peter recounting the story of where he gave Cornelius the gospel in chapter 10, Acts 11 verse 17. For as much then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us. What gift? The gift of eternal life. How do you get that? Who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't the Bible consistent? You receive the gift of salvation by believing. What was I that I could withstand God? When they heard these things, they held their peace and glorified God saying, then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. Now when it says repentance, it's referring to a change of mind, not repenting of your sins. But the Jews hear this, these are ones who had that ethnicity, but they believed on Jesus. And they're just like, man, it looks like God gave the gospel to the Gentiles also. Yeah, anybody can get saved. Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, you just figured it out? It's like, yeah, Jesus died for everyone. Anyone can get saved that believes on Jesus Christ, okay? Turn to Acts 20, Acts 20. Look, a large reason, probably the big reason why we look at Paul the Apostle as being the greatest soul winner is the fact that he simply gave the gospel to the Gentiles. Cuz a lot of the Jews, they just wanted to give the gospel to other Jews. Now there's nothing wrong with giving the gospel to whomever. Wherever you live, preach the gospel, give people save, whether it's a Christian country or Muslim or whatever. But look, the reason why we think of Paul the Apostle is he gave the gospel to the ends of the world, and that's what God told him to do in Acts chapter one. But most people said, Jerusalem's comfy, we got a nice church, these are our people we love, when we should be giving the gospel to everyone. Okay, everybody needs to hear the gospel. Acts 20, verse 20, and how I kept back nothing that was profitable on you. Acts 20, verse 20, but I've showed you and I've taught you publicly and from house to house, don't let anybody tell you door-to-door soul winning's not in the Bible. If you don't believe in door-to-door soul winning, then how about house-to-house soul winning, okay? Door-to-door's not in the Bible. Well, house-to-house is, my friend, okay? House-to-house, they're preaching the gospel. Notice, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Once again, not repentance of sins, but both the Jews and the Greeks, they must change their mind about what they believe. You cannot be trusting in Allah and then believe on Jesus Christ. Yesterday, Brother Prince and I were soul winning. And he had gotten this lady saved and one of her friends came. So I started giving the gospel to this other lady and then some other girls that were there. And we just kind of assumed that she was some kind of Christian, some kind of Christian church. And 10 minutes in, she's like, I'm a Muslim. Cuz I was telling her how Muhammad does not get you to heaven. And it's just like, yeah, well, the Bible says you must believe in the sun. And I just kept showing her, I didn't miss a beat. But look, she, and unfortunately she did not get saved yesterday, at least not that I know of. Hopefully she did later on that night, cuz she thought about it. You could ask Brother Prince, she was thinking about it. But she just was not able to quit trusting and put all of her trust in Jesus. You cannot trust 5% in Muhammad, or Allah, or whatever, and then put all your trust in Jesus. It must be 100% in Jesus Christ. It's not really how strong your faith is, it's where you place it. It all must be placed on what Jesus Christ did. And unfortunately, she was not able to just fully change her mind about what she believed. So both the Jews and the Greeks, or whatever your church was growing up, you must repent or change your mind about what you believed before. Cuz you cannot believe on Jesus Christ if you still trust your lifestyle. You can't believe in Jesus Christ if you still trust your baptism. You must put all of your trust in Jesus Christ, okay? Go back to Romans 2, Romans 2. Romans chapter 2, verse 5, Romans chapter 2, verse 5. And in Romans chapter 2, verse 5, it says, and this is referring to basically these people that are Jews that are trusting in their works. They think they can earn their way to heaven, they think they're good enough. Verse 5, but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasures unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. And so these unsaved people having a hard heart, okay? Impenitent means no sorrow, okay? If you've ever, I don't like to use worldly examples, but this is the only time I've ever heard this word. When I was a kid, Indiana Jones was like my favorite movies. And there's that phrase that Harrison Ford vainly repeats. It's like this obstacle course to get there. It's like only the penitent man can pass. Only the penitent man can pass. He keeps saying that over and over again. And what penitent means is basically having sorrow, okay? Impenitent means having no sorrow. And the Bible talks about people that, you know what, they have a hard heart. They're trusting in their works. They think they're good enough, and the Bible says they're not good enough. And one day, the righteous judgment of God will be revealed. If there's one characteristic of God, it's holiness, it's righteousness. That is the number one characteristic I would say about God. I would not say number one, God is love. Now God is love, but above being loving, He's holy. That's what I see in the Bible. And so look, God is a holy, righteous God. Verse six, who will render to every man according to his deeds, okay? Now some people could take this verse out of context and see, well, you know what, it's by your works that gets you to heaven or hell. Now here's what you have to understand. Unsaved people are trusting in their works. And you know what, God grants their request. If you want to get to heaven by your works instead of the blood of Jesus, go for it. You're not going to make it. They will basically, by their works, they're going to be judged. And for everything they've done wrong at the great white throne judgment, they're going to pay for it. He's going to render to them according to their deeds. Not just that they're guilty and will go to hell, but every action they do, they will pay for that in hell. But for us that are saved, we will be judged by our deeds as well. Not just in this life, because look, you live a sinful life, you reap what you sow. But the Bible speaks about the rewards that we can get one day. And he is going to judge you by your works, okay? Now you're saved and you're going to heaven because of your faith and nothing will change that. But you will be judged in this life and in terms of rewards in the afterlife based on what you do, okay? We don't say here when we preach the gospel that your works don't matter. They matter a lot, but it's 0% in regards to salvation, not 1%, 0%. So we need to understand where to put these works. They have nothing to do with salvation. You don't have to do good work to prove your salvation. But if you want to get rewards in heaven, you better do good works. And if you don't want to get spanked in this life by God, better obey what he says, okay? Verse 7, to them who by patient continuance and well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life. Verse 8, but unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation, and wrath, okay? Now here's the thing, when you're saved, none of your bad deeds are going to be shown to you. You're not going to be held accountable. You won't be judged because you told a lie. All you get is good things. We're going to see that at the end of the sermon. But look, no matter what I do, God's not going to bring up those sins. Now he'll punish me in this life for what I do that's wrong. But in terms of rewards, he's not going to say, well, you know what, you know, he's not going to look at the bad deeds. He only looks at the good. You say, why? That's how you're judged based on your rewards. We are given the gift of God. You don't have to repay that gift because it was a gift. You can't repay that gift. Every good thing you do, you get rewards for that, okay? It's not about paying back the gift. It's about getting rewards for what you do. Now because he gave us a gift, we should look at our lives as being a living sacrifice onto God. Absolutely. But all you're going to get is rewards for the good things you do. But unsaved people that never get saved, it doesn't matter how many nice things they did. They're going to be judged for what they did that was bad in hell, not for what they did that was good. If they did some good deed, that doesn't elevate their status. Every sin you've done wrong, you're held accountable for. Look, somebody who commits murder that's in court, it does not matter how much he gave to charity, right? If you're on trial for murder, you're being judged for the murder, not the charity you did. It doesn't matter if he gave a billion dollars, okay? You're still held accountable for what you did that was wrong. Verse 9, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first and also of the Gentile. And so Paul drives home this point of the Jew and the Gentile, because he's trying to drive home it does not matter what your ethnicity is. It does not matter because God is not a racist, okay? Verse 10, but glory, honor, and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. So look, if somebody grows up in a wicked country with a wicked false religion, but they are a soul winner that reads the Bible, that loves God, they're going to be rewarded for the good they did. It's not going to be held against them because they grew up in North Korea. They're going to be rewarded for the good things they did. That's what the Bible teaches. So whether it's Jew or Gentile or Greek or Korean or Filipino or American, it does not matter. What matters is what are you doing? God does not care about your skin color. And look, you know in America right now, it's just like all these race wars are going on. God doesn't care what your ethnicity is. He cares about your actions, what you're doing. So why do you say that? Verse 11, for there is no respect of persons with God. What does that mean? God's not a racist. And let me tell you something, and I'm not going to go into a major rabbit trail, but there are so many religions out there that are very racist. Because somehow your particular country or your particular skin color gives you an advantage on other people. In America, it's the Mormons. Mormons are racist, okay? They believe and teach that black people have black skin, because in a pre-existent life they were a bad person. And they were cursed with a skin color of black. Now once again, they don't like to teach you that from day one. You kind of learn that later on, and now they're trying to phase it out, okay? They're trying to pretend like it never happened. It's like, no, that's what you teach, that black people have that skin color because they used to be really sinful in a pre-existent life. But what's a pre-existent life? It's like, this is your one life, okay? But it's like, that's what they teach. And so in America, it's the Mormons that are very racist. And then there's also, those are the white people that are racist. Then you got the black Hebrew Israelites that are racist. And I've been going soul winning in the US before. And then there's someone who's a black Hebrew Israelite. And what they believe is that, and I knocked on the door one time of this black Hebrew Israelite. And I was with my friend at the church who's Hispanic, okay? And so I talked to this lady and I said, you know, hey, we're from Verity Baptist Church, we just wanted to invite you to church. And I asked her if she went to church and she's like, she's kind of rude. I can't remember exactly what she said. But she said, I won't accept an invitation from someone like you, okay? It's very obvious she meant my skin color, okay? So I kind of smiled and everything, because you hear everything else soul winning. You kind of just let it roll off your back, no big deal. And I said, well, I mean, what would you say if somebody asked you, you know, if you knew for sure you're going to heaven? And then, you know, she gave some answer or whatever, I can't remember. But then I said this. Well, I was like, what would you tell me if I asked you, what do I have to do to go to heaven? Her response was, I would tell you that heaven is not for some people. And it's like, basically, she said, because I'm white, I'm damned to hell. That's what she taught. That's what the black Hebrew Israelites, they teach. And it's just like, whether it's white or black, Hispanic or Filipino, there's all these racist religions that somehow think their skin color matters to God. And that's kind of what the Jews thought. Even the ones that were saved, they had a bit of a racist philosophy that they thought they were somehow better. It's like, no, God chose to use that area of the world and those people, and it was based on a promise of you being godly. And when you stop being godly, it was gone. There is no respect of persons with God. God is not a racist. For as many have sinned without law, shall also perish without law. So the Bible says if you've sinned without law, which basically means you live in an area that doesn't really go by the rules of God, right? I mean, before Ferdinand Magellan came here and got killed by Lapu-Lapu, I mean, the religion was kind of like half Muslim, half like this native spirits and gods thing, right? I mean, they were basically worshiping the god of the sun and the god of the river and stuff like that. They didn't go by the laws of the Bible, right? And this is pretty much in every culture, every country. They had a very heathen practice of worshiping Mother Earth and all these little gods and things such as that, and they're basically without law. They don't know the laws of the Bible. Do they get a free pass into heaven since they're not aware of what the Bible says? No, they don't, because if you're without law, you shall also perish without law. It doesn't matter if you don't know what the laws are, you're still held accountable. Say, how does that work? Let me give you an example. In the country of Brunei, I don't know if I'm pronouncing it right, Brunei, it is illegal to commit adultery. It's punishable by the death penalty, okay? Now, I don't know if they always enforce this. I'm just telling you what at least the letter of the law is, whether they apply that or not. So let's say that you visit Brunei. And let's say you commit adultery with some woman who's married to a guy in Brunei, and you're not aware that it's punishable by the death penalty. Let's say you get caught by the government and they say you committed adultery. And your defense is, I didn't know the death penalty was for that. Are you innocent or guilty? Guilty, even though you're not aware of it. I mean, good luck with the cops when you're driving 20 miles an hour, 20 kilometers per hour over the speed limit, and you say, I didn't know that was the speed limit. Well, you got a ticket, my friend. I didn't know it was illegal parking here. Good luck. Maybe you're gonna meet a really nice cop that's not gonna give you a ticket. Most likely, they're gonna give you a ticket. I didn't see the no parking sign. Doesn't change the fact it's still there, right? And so look, people could say, well, I didn't know those were the laws. And they might say, well, I didn't believe in the God of the Bible. It doesn't change the fact that he is the God of this world. And whether people believe this book or not, these are the rules. And people are expected to abide by this. Why? God is the judge. It doesn't matter if you're a Hindu and you say, but I didn't believe in the God of the Bible. You're still gonna be judged by the God of the Bible. And his laws are not gonna change even if you weren't aware of something being wrong. This is what the Bible teaches. You say, where does it teach that? Well, let me show you just a few more verses and then we'll look at another place. For as many have sinned with that law shall also perish with that law. And as many have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law. That's someone who has the law of God. You come from a Christian country, you have the law of God. You are aware of what the Bible says, at least to some degree. For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. You say, Brother Stuckey, I go to Verity Baptist Church, right? Well, you have to still obey what the Bible says. It doesn't matter how much I scream about how you need to read the Bible. If you don't read the Bible, then you know God's gonna be angry with you. Okay, now go to Leviticus chapter five. Leviticus chapter five. Now, obviously, you won't go to hell as a saved person if you don't obey. But the principle's still the same, that it does not matter if you hear what you need to do. What matters is, do you do it, okay? And look, the truth is, there's people that don't have a great church, but they're actually trying to do what's right. And then there can be people that are in a church like this, and you're not really trying to do what's right. It doesn't matter that you're hearing what's right. It matters that you're actually doing it, okay? And quite honestly, what the Bible teaches is, you're gonna be held more accountable because you know what the Bible says. That doesn't change the fact that someone who doesn't know is still held accountable, but you're gonna be held to a higher level if you hear the truth and you don't obey it. Notice what it says in Leviticus five, verse 17. Leviticus chapter five, verse 17. And if a soul sin and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord, though he wished it not. Wished it not means he was not aware of it, okay? So he sinned, and sin is the transgression of the law. So he broke the commandments or rules of the Bible, but he didn't realize it. Is he innocent? He wished it not, yet is he guilty and shall bear his iniquity. It does not matter if you weren't aware, you're still expected to do what the Bible says. Verse 18, and he shall bring a ram without blemish out of the flock with thy estimation for a trespass offering unto the priest. And the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his ignorance. Wherein he erred and wished it not, and it shall be forgiven him. It is a trespass offering. He hath certainly trespassed against the Lord, even though he wished it not. Turn back to Romans two, Romans two. We'll look at a few more places, we'll be done. And look, praise the Lord for being part of a good church, right? I mean, I'm thankful I was at Verity Baptist Church and you hear the truth. But you're still expected to do what's right. You're still expected to obey what the Bible says. It doesn't matter what I teach, it matters what you do, okay? Romans two, verse 14. For when the Gentiles which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law are a law unto themselves. What is verse 14 saying? The Gentiles is referring to basically, and look, the Gentiles in the Bible was actually a specific group of people. But then throughout most of the New Testament, it's a generic term to refer to everyone who's unsaved. You can look in cross reference, and it was a specific group of people, but it means basically anyone who's unsaved is what he's saying. So basically, the Gentiles, people that don't really have the law, but by nature, they do the things contained in the law. What's that saying? By nature, they don't murder people. Right. Because in their conscience, by nature, they know it's wrong. And so by nature, they obey a lot of the things as it is anyway. By nature, they know this is wrong, this is wrong. And by and large, the average unsaved person is obeying a lot of things. They're trying to do what's right. They don't want to sin against their conscience. Now it's true, all of us choose to sometimes. But most people, think about before you were unsaved. Were you just going out and doing drugs? You were a drug dealer, you were just fornicating with everybody, you were committing adultery, you were just a wicked person. You know why you didn't do those things? Because of the fact you knew they were wrong. And inside of your head you're like, man, even if you got mad at someone, you're not gonna kill them. Why? Well, you know it's wrong, you'd feel guilty, and you would feel terrible to do something like that. And so unsaved people, they obey a large part of the Bible just because on the inside they know, hey, this is wrong. God gave us a conscience. And when they do that, what are they declaring? They're basically declaring themselves underneath that law. Because even though they often obey, they don't always obey their conscience, okay? They're a law unto themselves, they know these things. So verse 15, which show the work of the law written in their hearts. Inside of your heart, you know certain things are right and certain things are wrong. It's built into you, okay, where you know certain things are wrong. Their conscience also bearing witness. And look, we have all gone to bed at night before, and we had a guilty conscience. What does that mean? You did something you knew was wrong, and you chose to do it anyway, and then at nighttime you feel guilty about it, right? Unsafe people get guilty consciences, right? When they do what's wrong, they get a guilty conscience, okay? And this shows that unsaved people are not all reprobates, cuz they have a conscience, okay? And so look, their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another. Their thoughts will tell them if they're innocent or guilty. When you think a bad thought, you're like, man, that was wrong. I shouldn't have thought of that. Their thoughts are telling them this. They know this from their conscience. Verse 16, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel. See, a day is coming where God is gonna judge the secrets of men. What does that mean? It means the things on the inside that nobody knows about. I don't know what you're thinking about throughout the day. You don't know what I'm thinking about. We're gonna look at two places. Turn to Revelation 20, Revelation 20. But one day these things will be revealed, the things on the inside, okay? So for someone who's unsaved, they're gonna be held accountable for their sins. And I'm sure there's a million things they thought on the inside that, you know what? There's another sin they're guilty of, cuz the thought of foolishness is sin. So the Bible speaks here in Revelation 20 about what's known as the great white throne judgment. Now in Revelation 20, you need to realize this is after the 1,000 year reign in verse 11. The 1,000 year reign is earlier in the chapter, which tells us the great white throne judgment is after the 1,000 years. So when people die now, they go to hell. Eventually, hell's gonna be relocated to the lake of fire, okay? Now that's an in-depth topic. We'll talk about it when we get to Revelation, okay? But people that die now, they go to hell, okay? And eventually, they're gonna come before the great white throne judgment. Now what I personally believe, and what Verity Baptist Church has taught, I don't believe these people will escape hell for 20 minutes to be judged. I believe they will still be burning while they're judged, okay? We need to understand God is outside of time, and hell is forever. I believe that's forever now as well. Now some people do believe that you get out for a little while, then you get judged, and then get thrown into the lake of fire. I believe you're burning in hell forever, and you're judged while you're still in flames, okay? That's what I believe. But notice what it says in Revelation 20. This is after the 1,000 years. Revelation 20, verse 11. And I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. And so these people, they're not gonna be in the book of life. And so God's gonna open up the books, which I believe are the books of the Bible. And it's like, well, let's see how you did at these things. And they're gonna be held accountable for everything they do wrong. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. And they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, okay? So what the Bible teaches here is that some people are gonna be in worse pain than others, cuz you're judged based on your works. An unsaved person, everything they do will come into judgment. So who's gonna be burning in hell worse than anybody? The devil, right? And so when you see people that are wicked people in this world, sometimes we can have the attitude, it seems like they're getting away with this. They're not getting away with it. Why? Because the worse you are, the more you're gonna be judged. The more you're gonna pay for it, okay? People that are really wicked people, they're gonna pay for it more in hell. One, cuz God is gonna balance out the scales of right and wrong. They're gonna pay for everything they did wrong. Now go to 1 Corinthians 3, 1 Corinthians 3. This is the last place we'll look at. Now the good news for us that are saved is the fact that none of our sins are gonna be brought up. Now if you do what's wrong in this life, you will reap what you sow. Sometimes bad people don't really reap what they sow in this life. But they're not gonna get away with it because if they don't reap it in this life, they're gonna certainly pay for it in the afterlife, in hell, okay? Us as saved people though, we're not gonna be judged based on sins we commit and be sent to hell. But if you live a bad life, you reap what you sow in this life, okay? But when we go to judgment, it's not the great white throne judgment. We're gonna be judged based on the good we do. Now the great white throne judgment is after the thousand years. But remember, in the millennial reign, we're gonna be ruling and reigning with Christ. You're gonna be ruling and reigning based on what you did on this earth. So the judgment for us is gonna be before the thousand years, okay? And based on what you did, that's gonna determine how you're ruling, okay? First Corinthians 3 verse 12, you say, what does that mean? First Corinthians 3 verse 12, now if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest. Now, it mentions six things in verse 12, gold, silver, and precious stones, and wood, hay, and stubble. Now if you put wood in a fire, it's gonna burn up, right? If you put hay in a fire, it's gonna burn up. If you put stubble in a fire, it's gonna burn up. If you put gold, silver, and precious stones in a fire, they're not gonna burn up. Okay? What he's basically giving in this, and obviously that can depend on the temperature of the fire, but I'm saying in the example he's giving, that gold, silver, and precious stones last through the fire, wood, hay, and stubble don't. Okay? Now is there anything sinful about wood? Is that sinful? No. Is there anything sinful about hay? No. Is there anything sinful about stubble? No, but those things don't abide through the fire. What am I saying? Here's what I'm saying. Nothing wrong with working out. I love to work out. But look, you don't get a reward because you bench 250, right? It's like, oh man, I cut my mile time down, or I cut my kilometer time down 15 seconds. You don't get a reward for that. I mean, that's great you got in shape. You know, praise the Lord for that. You don't get a reward in heaven for that. Okay? And so the vast majority of what we do in this life is just things we need to do. Now obviously God tells you to work your secular job, but you know, that's a command from God. And you know, certain things you do in life, going to the grocery store, you don't get a reward for that. That's just what you got to do. There's nothing sinful about buying groceries. Okay? You say, I trust in God. He's going to rain them down from heaven. Well, I mean, there's Pentecostal churches out there that you love. Okay? It's like, there's a lot of things we do in life, we don't get rewards for them. Okay? They're just things we got to do. But we do get rewarded for certain things where the Bible tells us to do this. And not just soul winning, but you know, raising your kids, being a good husband or wife, you know, many different things. You know, we just try to obey the best we can, and we're going to let God sort out the rewards in our life. Okay? But the Bible says, every man's work shall be made manifest. You're going to find out what abides the fire. For the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. Now, the Bible does teach, and I don't have time to go there, it's not just the actions you do, it's actually a matter of the heart on the inside. See, if you go soul winning simply because you want people to look at you as being spiritual, you lost your reward. Okay? It's not just the actions you do, it's also your reasons for doing them. That's what the Bible teaches. Now, if you don't do the action at all, you're not going to get a reward. But the Bible says in Corinthians, you know, I don't have time to go into it, but you're going to get rewards also based on the heart of it as well. So this is why the Bible is saying it's being manifest, because there could be people at church that you think are the most spiritual, and then one day it turns out, oh, man, I thought they did all these great things and all their works are being burned up. Why? Because they did them for the wrong reason. Okay? And look, saved people can do things for the wrong reason. People go soul winning to be seen in men all the time. Or you might say, man, I'm going to read the Bible because of the fact, you know, I want to make sure I'm reading it more than other people. It's like, well, I mean, you're going to lose your reward. You need to do it for the right reason. And so it's going to be made manifest, and that is why the Bible tells us we don't compare one another, and it's not our job to try to rank people. Like so-and-so is number one at the church, so-and-so is number two, so-and-so...look, we have no idea. Okay? And look, just because somebody is like preaching sermons, just because I preach sermons, that doesn't mean I get more awards than other people. The day will declare it for me as well as you and for all of us. And we're going to find out. Okay? We're all on this path of trying to serve God. It will be made manifest. Verse 14, if any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. So this person is still saved, he's going to heaven. But you know the reality is that most Christians are going to get to heaven one day, and look, you know, hopefully this wouldn't be true at our church, but most people are going to get there and find out, man, I didn't get a whole lot of rewards. Because a lot of people think you get a reward for listening to Christian rock music. I mean, isn't that true? That if you listen to music that kind of touches your heart, you're going to get a reward in heaven? It's like, and look, I'm not really trying to mock it. What I'm saying is there's saved people that go to churches, and they're being taught from their pastors, you know, basically serving God is about, you know, feeling right and everything like that. And you know what, it's an emotional thing and everything. And they're going to find out one day, man, I thought I was really serving God, but it turns out apparently I wasn't. Okay? And so look, you know, the Bible says, and it's not just soul winning. We talk about soul winning a lot here. Obviously we're a soul winning church. But it's like, here's what I'm trying to tell you. There are saved people out there that, you know what, they've been in church for 10 years, and they feel real spiritual and close to God, and they've never read the Bible cover to cover. It's like, you know, you've been saved 10 years, you've never read the Bible cover to cover. I mean, it only takes about 15 minutes a day, depending on, I mean, and you might read a little bit slower to try to catch more things. But look, it's going to take you less than 30 minutes a day. Now, if a young kid reads the Bible, sure, it's going to take them more time. But it's just like, you should be able to eventually get through the Bible. It's just like, you know what, that is something God, and that's not just Bible reading, prayer life, you know, memorizing the Bible, going soul winning, or just obeying what the Bible says. Fear God and keep his commandments. And a lot of people feel like they're close to God because they listen to music and their pastor's telling them that they're really right with God. But they never read the Bible. They never pray. They never go soul winning. They don't obey God's rules. So look, your actions speak more than your words. And people think that they're really living for God, but they're not. And one day you need to realize it's all going to be made manifest. And you don't want to get to heaven and it turns out, I didn't really do anything for God. You want to get to heaven and find out, you know what, I'm doing what's right. You're getting rewards for what you did. What's the best way to find out? Reading the Bible. Because although I preach things in the Bible and you hear them, for one, reading the Bible is 10 times as powerful as my words when you get alone with God. But also when you read the Bible, you know everything the Bible says. If you read the entire Bible, you're going to find out, oh, this is wrong. I didn't know that. And do you realize that every single one of us, we read the Bible, you're like, oh man, I'm guilty of this. It's like when you read the Bible, it becomes clear to you. These are God's words and you find out, we don't want to get to heaven one day with no rewards. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and thank you for giving us a church and a church family of people that love you and want to serve you and we're trying to do what's right. And we do understand your judgment, God, that we sin every day and we're very thankful that we're saved, that we heard the gospel. But we also know that our rewards are going to be based on what we do. And all of us, we mess up every day. God, help us, though, to strive to be better people, better Christians, and constantly becoming closer and closer to you. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.